The Minister of Justice categorically denies that the non-signing of the authority to proceed - in the case of Tony Ashman - is a result of any dispute between the Attorney General’s Chambers and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The British authorities requested the Jamaican authorities to issue a provisional warrant for the arrest of Ashman - pending the submission of authenticated documents for his extradition.
The warrant was issued by the Resident Magistrate and Ashman was arrested and taken before the courts where he consented to be returned to Britain, but no authority to proceed had been issued or could have been issued by the Minister because the authenticated documents had not been sent - as is required by the Extradition Act.
The Minister then requested the British authorities to send her the authenticated documents expeditiously, to enable her to issue the authority to proceed.
The British authorities promised to send the authenticated documents as soon as possible, but have not yet done so; consequently the Minster is not in a position to issue the authority to proceed.
Please note, the fact that Mr. Ashman has been released does not preclude further proceedings for his extradition.
The Minister is prepared to sign the authority to proceed, as soon as she receives the authenticated documents from the British authorities and provided that they satisfy the requirements of the Extradition Act.
No comments:
Post a Comment